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Employment of college gradutes key concern for education tsar

By Ding Qingfen and Liu Baijia (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-03-04 10:20

Yu Minhong, a CPPCC member and the tsar of China's private language education, said on Wednesday in Beijingthat he was very much concerned about the situation of college graduates and his company New Oriental will try its best to help graduates to find jobs or pursue other careers.

Full coverage:  NPC and CPPCC 2009 Related readings:  Graduates take part-time option  Help graduates start businesses  Hire graduates without local hukou  More graduates opt to be their own boss

Yu, founder, chairman, and CEO of the largest private education service provider, said he would not raise any official proposal as a CPPCC member at this year's session, but he said employment of college graduates is a key concern for him.

This year, almost seven million graduates need to find jobs, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security said in February.

Yu said with the impact of the financial crisis, it is going to be harder for students to find jobs, when the supply is larger than the demand.

“At the same time, many students are not ready for this change in their mindset, which is also very worrisome,” he said.

The financial crisis also hit the most famous English training organization in China, as its enrollment fell by 10 percent, Yu said.

In the company’s second fiscal quarter ending on Nov 30, the company enrolled 292,200 students, a 13.4 percent growth than the same period of 2007.

The company already revised its growth in the third fiscal quarter from the range of $65.5-67.5 million to $62-65 million.